Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) Given New $73.00 Price Target at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) had its price objective lifted by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $71.00 to $73.00 in a report released on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a market perform rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Essent Group from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $66.00 to $65.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Essent Group from $59.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “cautious” rating in a research report on Monday, October 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of Essent Group in a research note on Monday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Essent Group has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $66.67.

Essent Group Trading Up 0.9%

NYSE ESNT opened at $66.80 on Thursday. Essent Group has a 12 month low of $51.61 and a 12 month high of $67.09. The company has a market capitalization of $6.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.40 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.68 and a quick ratio of 1.68. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $61.71 and its 200 day moving average price is $60.84.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.75 by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $311.83 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $316.84 million. Essent Group had a net margin of 55.63% and a return on equity of 12.40%. The business’s revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.65 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Essent Group will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essent Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Monday, December 1st were paid a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 1st. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.05%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Roy James Kasmar sold 3,250 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.44, for a total value of $199,680.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 23,573 shares in the company, valued at $1,448,325.12. This represents a 12.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 2.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Essent Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $75,596,000. Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Essent Group in the first quarter worth approximately $41,084,000. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Essent Group by 78.9% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,517,859 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $92,180,000 after purchasing an additional 669,577 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in Essent Group by 670.5% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 663,332 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $38,288,000 after purchasing an additional 577,245 shares during the period. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Essent Group by 760.5% in the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 367,460 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $21,210,000 after purchasing an additional 324,757 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.00% of the company’s stock.

Essent Group Company Profile

Essent Group Ltd., through its subsidiaries, provides private mortgage insurance and reinsurance for mortgages secured by residential properties located in the United States. Its mortgage insurance products include primary, pool, and master policy. The company also provides information technology maintenance and development services; customer support-related services; underwriting consulting; and contract underwriting services, as well as risk management products and title insurance and settlement services.